


Orb

by Seven_Sisters



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8871898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seven_Sisters/pseuds/Seven_Sisters
Summary: A mysterious orb finds its way to Earth, changing human evolution forever.





	1. Chapter 1

The Australopithecine didn’t have a name. That’s not surprising, as his species didn’t have language. He was himself; the others were the others. He knew and could identify between individuals – an important social skill – but he didn’t have names for them. And they didn’t have a name for him. This would change with future generations and he was the one that set the whole thing in motion.

It was midafternoon and he was sulking. He was a lesser male in the troupe and did not have access to the females because of it. The alpha male supposedly had exclusive access but the females would sneak behind his back from time to time to mate with the beta male and a few others. He was locked out, however. He was a nobody in the eyes of the females and even the lowest ranking among them had nothing to do with him.

His most recent attempt was a disaster. Not only did the female reject his efforts, the alpha male realized what he was up to and did the whole dominance display thing. It was humiliating and he was pissed. There weren’t any indications the males were going on patrol anytime soon, so he was left to his own devices.

He wandered further away from the safety of the group than he would normally but he needed a distraction. He found himself on the side of a small hill when he saw it. A glint, a bit of reflected sunlight where it shouldn’t have been. He climbed to the top to investigate. There was a strange looking object partially buried in the ground.

He would have had nothing to do with something so out of place any other day, but his curiosity was piqued. He grabbed a stick, the cutting edge of technology for his species, and worked the earth around the object. The ground was stubborn, but he managed to free the object with some effort and held it in his hands.

It was a perfectly spherical, highly polished orb. It was made of an exotic metallic alloy that did not tarnish and wasn’t affected by extremes of temperature and pressure though he didn’t care about any of that. It was odd looking and he turned it in his hands, examining it. It was heavier than he expected and if he put his ear to it, it seemed to have a low, quiet hum. Strange.

The orb examined him in turn. This creature seemed compatible. It was different from its creators, but not by too much. It could adapt its payload to match its DNA. It made its decision and opened its two halves. A soft blue glow radiated from between the hemispheres and a fluid leaked out onto the hands of the creature. It snapped shut which startled him, causing him to drop it. 

He sniffed the goo on his hands, tasted it, rubbed it on his chest and promptly forgot it. The sun was going down and it would be dark soon. The alpha male was a pain but there was no doubting the security of his troupe. It was time to return.

He slept poorly that night. The goo had worked its way into his bloodstream and began to spread through his body. It analyzed his DNA then integrated itself in strategic locations. His body began to express new proteins and he became a new creature.

But most importantly, his brain began to restructured its neurological pathways. His dreams were chaotic, disturbing. He thrashed about as he slept. He had one hell of a headache the next morning when he joined his group to start their day.

This time, however, something was different. The members of his troupe seemed … what? Stupid. Yes – stupid. He wondered why he had never noticed this before. The alpha male was suddenly riled up about something and was putting on a big show; it was part of his morning ritual. It seemed he didn’t need an excuse to behave like an ass, he just wanted to make sure everyone else in his little fiefdom was appropriately intimidated by him.

Except, this morning he wasn’t intimidated. He was bored, if he was anything. He looked about and selected a small rock, something that fit easily in his grasp. He turned it, considering. It was hard to explain, but it just felt right. It was a very good tool. And it made for a good weapon. He took careful aim and threw the rock at the alpha with deadly accuracy. It connected at the side of his temple exactly as he intended. The impact was enough to shatter the hard bone of his head and sent shock waves though the spongy material contained within.

The alpha male dropped to the ground in a heap, dead where he’d stood a moment before. A pool of blood spread out from the wound and the sight and smell of it set off a panic within the troupe. He watched and waited. He picked up a new stone and struck the beta male on his head. He was careful this time only to hurt the beta, not kill him. He understood it wouldn’t do to kill all his rival males. It was enough that they now recognized him as the new alpha. It was enough the others knew that any challenge to his alpha status would carry a heavy price.

It was his genes that became dominant within his troupe and his progeny. They dominated their region becoming the most cunning, clever and ruthless predators on the continent. They used stone tools, facilitating their evolutionary advancement. They developed language and spread out in waves across the planet. They looked to the sky as they traveled and watched the sun, the moon and, most of all, the stars.


	2. Chapter 2

“Professor? Professor! Over here – I think I found something!”

Professor Teague looked up and sought out the voice that was calling him. He shaded his eyes and looked about. There. Susie Pratt was waving for him to come to her. He debated. She was a tad quick to point out new “discoveries” that were little more than odd shaped stones. Still, she did seem a bit more agitated than usual this time.

“What do you have,” he asked as he approached her. She didn’t need to explain her excitement because it was obvious what she was referring to. A metallic object was embedded in the rock face. It was certainly odd, but he was skeptical. After all, this object – whatever it was – was clearly manufactured. He was seeking hominid fossils, not some kind of obvious modern human artifact.

“What? It’s a metal ball of some sort,” he huffed, catching his breath. “What’s the big deal?”

“Professor – look again. It’s embedded in the rock face. My preliminary dating indicates it’s been there for millions of years. This isn’t just some kind of metal ball. This shouldn’t even exist. Not here – not like this.”

Teague took a second look. She was right. Whatever this is, it’d been here for a very long time. His own experienced eye quickly confirmed her estimation. Millions of years was about right.

“Oy! You! Yes. Get some tools up here. We found something.” A young, overworked and underpaid intern collected a basket of tools and trotted up the hill. The three of them worked to free the artifact, taking care at first not to damage it. It quickly became obvious this thing, whatever it was, was rugged. Nothing they did so much as left a mark on it.

“Umph,” Teague grunted as he tried to lift it. “Damn. This thing is _heavy._ It’s almost like it’s made out of lead or something.”

“What do you think it is, professor?” the intern asked, ever eager to ingratiate himself. It was a pointless effort so long as Ms. Pratt was about. Teague largely ignored anyone else. She was his prized student and more, if the rumors were to be believed.

“Susie, take this to the tent. We’ll finish up here and look it over later. Come by after the evening meal and we’ll start a write up.”

Susie smiled weakly. She didn’t mind his little “invitations”, but she wished he’d be a little more circumspect about it. She got the intern to lug it down the hill for her. She cleared a space on the work table and between the two of them, they set it down with a solid thunk.

“What is that thing, anyway?” the intern asked as they returned to the dig. If he couldn’t make inroads with the prof, perhaps his favorite student might help.

Susie knew what he was doing, but she didn’t mind. She started out just like him – a lowly intern trying to be noticed. She just had a couple of assets he didn’t have was all. It wasn’t his fault, really. He wasn’t bad looking and he did take pride in his work. Perhaps he’d do better with a female professor. Hell, she’d be willing to give him a coy little come hither smile from time to time if it weren’t for her “working” relationship with Teague. Oh well, sucks to be him.

“I honestly don’t know, Mike. I dated those strata it was embedded in and I’m telling you – that thing’s been there for millions of years. It’s not possible, but there it is. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

She found her way to the professor’s tent after evening meal clean-up was finished. For once, he was genuinely engrossed in something besides her when she arrived. She stood next to him and watched as he took various measurements.

“Susie! Look at this. I weighed it and it is heavier than I thought – it’s transuranic. This thing should be hot as hell! But it’s inert. I can’t detect any kind of radiation being emitted from it at all. This could be a hunk of aluminum alloy if it weren’t so heavy. Here, get me the calipers.”

Susie was rather surprised by this. Usually by now he’d be dropping little suggestive hints and pouring her a glass of wine. They’d normally engage in shop talk for a while in order to keep up appearances. No one was fooled, naturally, but it didn’t hurt to stay in character. She wondered if she should be feeling a little jealous.

Instead, they spent the next couple of hours doing actual science. The orb was a perfect sphere. It didn’t deviate by even a sub millimeter. Further, it had a perfectly smooth surface, so much so it acted like a mirror. Its composition was a mystery as well. The field equipment wasn’t well suited for this, but it was fairly obvious this wasn’t common metallic alloy.

They did all they could with the equipment at hand and they even worked up an initial paper, one they’d finish once they got back to the university. Finally satisfied, the professor turned his attention to her more obvious attributes. She didn’t mind. He was much more fun to be with once he got some real science into his system. She cozied up to him and gave him a little kiss. Time to earn that A.

They returned to the university a few weeks later. This orb, whatever it was, dominated his thoughts the whole time. So much so, she was beginning to wonder if she should spend a little attention on the intern to remind Teague she was still here.

He spent a year trying figure out what the orb was, but made little headway. He’d become more than a little obsessive about it and it was starting to interfere with his proper duties. His contemporaries weren’t nearly as impressed as he was and they began to drop not so subtle hints he should move on. Grant monies started drying up and he found himself starting to be ostracized by his peers.

Unwilling as he was to give up, there was nothing more he could do and as no one else was willing to help, he finally put it away. The orb for its part had concluded that while this species had advanced far, it wasn’t ready yet. It put its plans on hold and waited in the bottom drawer of a nondescript cabinet in a forgotten store room. It had waited a billion years so far and it was content to wait a little longer.


	3. Chapter 3

“No, really, you need to take a look at this thing. It’s the weirdest thing here. Old Professor Teague had a lot of strange things in his collection, but this is the strangest yet.”

Saito Hiragama looked up from his research paper. Professor Teague was something of a legend around the campus. He taught a couple of centuries prior and was unofficially revered by underclassmen for his reputation of being a major, first class oddball and a notorious ladies’ man well into his twilight years. Susanne Pratt, the first female chancellor of the university, was long rumored to have had a more than a passing fling with him during her time as his student.

Saito stood up and went to see what his friend was on about. He was handed a spherical object and was so caught off guard by its weight that he nearly dropped it. It was a _lot_ heavier than it looked, by a mile. It was a perfect sphere and a perfect mirror. He looked more closely at the surface and it occurred to him there was no evidence of machining.

“Yeah, you’re right. This is strange. Are there any notes or anything describing it?”

Kawanji O’Malley just smiled. “Yep. Turns out, Chancellor Pratt found it while she was a student of his. I’m telling you dude, Professor T’ was drilling more than just holes in the ground. For seriously.”

Saito scowled. He didn’t care about that kind of thing. “Here, give me the folder.”

The more he read, the more intrigued he became. He set out to replicate the efforts of the long dead professor and he obtained the same results. This thing, whatever it was, was impervious to everything. Nothing marred it or left even a smudge on it. It remained an enigma after several months of study. He noticed a hum could be heard for a brief time when he exposed it to radiometric measurements, something not noted in the old logs, but beyond that, nothing.

He stayed with it for a while, but eventually put it aside so he could finish his studies. He graduated with honors several years later and had largely put the odd artifact behind him. But he never forgot about it.

The orb remained in its reliquary for several more decades until Saito attended a seminar about a radical new technology for non-invasive imagery. It used a pair of quantum waves, one that passed through the object being scanned and another that didn’t. The two wave were recombined and the interference pattern they generated could be read out as a three-dimensional image.

The image could then be peeled back in layers, like an onion, to reveal inner structures that otherwise weren’t accessible without damaging the object being imaged. _Or, can’t otherwise be penetrated,_ Saito thought, remembering the odd artifact.

He caught up with group that had given the talk and told them of this strange curiosity. They were reluctant at first, not believing him, but he persisted.

“Listen, I don’t know what this is, but it’s like _nothing_ I’ve ever encountered. I subjected it to all kinds of tests. It doesn’t react to anything. Acid doesn’t affect it, nor do any alkali solutions. I’ve subjected it to temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius. It doesn’t seem to be affected at all. It’s hardness is off the charts – even diamond tipped drill bits don’t do anything. It’s as pristine as it was when it was first discovered.”

“So, what is it? Some ancient alien artifact brought to Earth to impress the early Egyptians or something?” Simone Carducci wasn’t easily impressed and he really didn’t feel like wasting his time and grant money on some hoax.

“No. If the original field notes are right, this thing is millions of years old. Maybe older.”

“Saito, you need to be careful saying shit like that. This is not the sort of thing real science concerns itself with. You’re risking becoming a laughing stock if you don’t drop this.”

“Here. Read for yourself. You can discount the age of the artifact if you want, but I’m not so sure. But that doesn’t matter. Look at the research I’ve conducted. This thing is literally like nothing I’ve ever come across. I’m beginning to wonder if an extra-terrestrial origin is not out of the question.”

“Okay, now you are starting to sound like a crazy man. You need to drop this.”

Saito collected himself. He’d heard this before and Simone was right. He was putting his scientific integrity, and his reputation, at risk pursuing this. But the more he’d looked, the more he’d been convinced this was genuine. He hadn’t returned to the orb for a long time but now he had a chance to do something new. He didn’t want to lose this opportunity.

“How about this, then. I’ll pay for this out of my own department’s funds. If nothing else, you can use this as a way to demonstrate your own research outside of the limited context you’ve been working under.”

That seemed to register. Simone’s team was up against their own resistance. His equipment was so cutting edge, it drew blood just looking at it. Saito wasn’t the only one getting push back from the scientific community. There were many scientists – prominent physicists with serious clout – who were on record saying this was a fool’s folly. He could stand a little publicity showing he and his team knew what they were talking about.

“Okay. Fine. Just don’t go around telling people I’m on board with your crackpot theory that this is some kind of ancient extra-terrestrial tech. This is just a way to show how our technique works and to finally debunk this whole thing once and for all.”

Saito agreed. He didn’t appreciate Simone’s attitude, but here was an opportunity to make some actual headway for a change. He ignored the snark and they made arrangements to meet.

The team came to his laboratory a few weeks later and set up their equipment. Once they encountered the orb for themselves, they began to be less incredulous. This thing really did seem to be otherworldly. Perhaps Saito was on to something after all. They set the unexpectedly heavy orb in the middle of the scanner, made several final adjustments, then flipped a switch.

A blue light glowed as the quantum wave was directed at the orb. This was what it was waiting for. It scanned the room then began to spin. It separated its two halves once again, emitted its own blue glow and ejected the rest of its payload. It targeted the people in the room, splattering them with a liquid that immediately penetrated the skin and entered the bloodstream. Once it was finished, it no longer needed its container and the orb fell to the floor in two halves.


	4. Chapter 4

The room erupted in a panic. Everyone began to rub the goo from their hands and faces but it was too late for that. It had already worked its way into their bloodstream and was insinuating itself into their DNA.

The experiment was shut down and the hemispheres were collected and placed into quarantine. The scientists and technicians were released though a bitter debate raged for several hours with many arguing they should be quarantined as well. In the end, they were told to remain in their homes and offices. No one was satisfied, but the debate ended there.

It wasn’t long before the effects of the payload began to manifest. Alina Ivanov, the lead physicist of the group, was the first to notice. She suddenly started menstruating, years after she’d entered menopause. Her doctors were nonplussed by the change. No one knew what to say. She muttered under her breath as she left the doctor’s office, griping about having to start carrying pads with her again.

Two weeks later, Simone received unexpected news of his own. He’d been receiving treatment for bone cancer and on a routine visit with his oncologist, he learned that not only had the cancer gone into remission, there was no evidence he’d ever had cancer at all. 

Saito reported feeling like a grad student again. And he wasn’t the only one. Everyone that had come into contact with the mysterious substance the orb had ejected was healthier than they had been in years. Some reported never feeling so healthy at any time in their lives.

They lost fat and gained muscle. They started jogging just to get work off their excess energy. Their intelligence improved by leaps and bounds. Several scientists in the group made major break throughs in fields that weren’t even their own. Run of the mill people started putting trained athletes to shame.

The medical community was beside itself. These people were growing younger and healthier literally by the day. Old scars disappeared. Eyeglasses were discarded. Hair regrew. Erectile dysfunction disappeared. Breasts firmed up and cellulite disappeared.

Then all hell broke loose. It turned out that whatever had happened was contagious. Positive results aside, that wasn’t something anyone was willing to accept. Every infected person that could be found was rounded up and put into quarantine. That seemed for a time to halt the progression of the … what? Disease? What else could it be called? More than one doctor protested at that saying if this is a disease, then sign me up!

But it was too late. More and more people began showing the same improvements and the infection or whatever it was spread around the globe. People were going out of their way to be infected and eventually the quarantine was lifted. What was the point?

Dr. Maheswaran summed it up with an offhand remark during a presser. This was a modern miracle of the highest order. Disease and the suffering it brought was all but eliminated. The most common cause of death became accidents as many people thought they were invulnerable. They weren’t. The health improvements, as wondrous as they were, didn’t keep necks from snapping when jumping off high buildings.

The second leading cause of death was old age. Even as healthy as people became, it turned out that few people survived beyond 175. And, once they reached that limit, the end was quick and painless. They all died in their sleep.

And the hits kept coming. Crime rates dropped to the point where no one bothered to track them anymore. Starvation ended. Poverty became a dim memory. War was abandoned and humankind entered an era of unheard of prosperity.

The obsession began almost immediately. As the human experience improved, many fields of study were abandoned as unneeded. High school graduates became doctors as their first jobs as just about anyone could qualify. Instead, scientific inquiry turned to the heavens. Astronomy, cosmology and related fields became all the rage. Everyone worked to build faster, more powerful engines that took scientific payloads throughout the solar system and beyond.

The orb waited. It was part of the new species and it was just a matter of time now. No one seemed to notice that humans were content to remain planet bound. Technology had advanced to the point where human colonies could be set up on Mars or even Venus if they had wanted. But no one did.

Human population exploded across the globe. The technology to support 50 billion people was perfected and finally the time had come. The third and final part of the orb's plan began.


	5. Chapter 5

“Robert! Wait up.” Konjit, a tall Ethiopian woman, ran up the stairs to meet him. Her age was impossible to determine beyond the fact she was an adult. People largely stopped aging after their 26th birthday.

Robert Hiragama turned to greet his friend. She was quite beautiful, though that was another common trait these days. Physical beauty carried little currency anymore. Intelligence was the coin of the realm.

“Hey Konjit, what’s up?” He smiled as she came up next to him.

“You know why I’m here, Robert. Stop by the house after you’re done. It’s time.”

Robert nodded in agreement then continued to his lab. No doubt about that – it was long past “time”. He collected himself and entered the lobby of the main research facility in the area. He planted a well-practiced smile on his face and greeted his superior.

He was the lead scientist on the team finalizing plans for the Orb Ships as they were commonly known. He had helped to develop the technology that allowed for sustained, near light-speed flight. He hated it, but it was a perfect cover. Not only did he avoid suspicion, it gave him access to vital tech. They needed this engine if humans were going to survive.

He took his seat in the conference room and chaired the meeting that would approve the final design. After that, humanity was doomed and there wasn’t a damn thing he or his rebel group could do about it. The meeting adjourned a few hours later and he bade farewell to his friends as they left, excited to get started with the mass extinction of all life on Earth. By the time they were finished, only bacterial life would remain. The very idea beggared the imagination. All for the sake of some long extinct species from a planet long ago consumed by its dying star. Madness.

He returned to his house and changed clothes. He heated the meal his live-in girlfriend had left for him – marriage was largely passé anymore, too old fashioned for the New Man. He would never see her again – she had volunteered for the first series of launches and was being prepped even as he ate the meal she left for him. She’d be gone by the time he cleaned the dishes.

He grabbed a jacket and hailed an auto-cab. The driverless vehicle arrived a few minutes later and he entered. He pulled out his false credentials and entered Konjit’s address in the data terminal. He didn’t even bother to hide his destination – it would be the last they’d ever meet there. 

Konjit greeted him at the door and led him in to where the rest were waiting for him. He had his travel bag with him and he noted the others had their bags as well. It was “time”, indeed.

“Do you have the specs, Robert?” Leon Spangler asked as he took a seat. He nodded, tapping a small data pack in his pocket. It had the capacity to hold the contents of everything humans knew several times over. It was massive overkill – all it contained were the final specs of the engines they’d have to steal. Data more precious than virtually anything else he might have collected.

They entered another vehicle, took their seats and waited while Leon entered the coordinates to a location only he knew. He looked out as the vehicle lifted off and sought the building where his girlfriend had met her end. He could only imagine what it was like.

He’d seen the plans. It was insanity distilled to its purest form. She would be scrubbed clean and led naked into a small, sterile room. A collection of orbs would be assembled in a circle, ready to receive her. She’d step into the center of the orbs, with a huge smile on her face no doubt, then would place her hand on a small panel custom configured just for her. A light would envelop her and the orbs would be activated. Her body would disintegrate and the original payload carried in that first orb would separate out and a portion would find its way to each orb. The orbs would close and all that would be left would be to send them on their way.

Madness.


	6. Chapter 6

Robert watched the night sky. He felt neurotic for doing so, but he couldn’t help himself. With each launch, life on Earth became increasingly tenuous.

The speed at which the launches began was unexpected, though in retrospect they probably shouldn’t have been. It was as if people were in a hurry to die. It had been two years since final designs for his engine were approved and manufacturing began. Now the sky was filled with contrails.

One by one, new orbs were being assembled and humans were walking naked into a room to place their hands on a panel. Even children were participating. The freshly charged orbs were then taken to a phalanx of awaiting craft and off they went.

The rebellion had long stopped being a rebellion and had morphed into desperate bid for survival. Time was running out. The Orb Ships consumed an incredible amount of resources for each one built and they were building as many as they possibly could.

“Konjit,” Robert said turning to his compatriot. “We’re running out of time here. Were you able to get those engines or not? We need to mount them – it’ll take time to calibrate them. It’ not like the entire planet is helping us like they are with the Orb Ships. We really need to hurry.”

“Robert. Again – you need to relax. I have received word. We have managed to snatch enough of them for our needs. Not as many as we wanted, but enough. We paid a huge price in the process. You know as well as I that we can’t afford anymore losses. That was entire division that went in. We’re estimating only a couple hundred made it out.

“So sit back, watch the launches and be patient. The engines are coming. Once you and your team get them ready, we can leave.”

Robert wasn’t mollified by her words, but he kept his thoughts to himself. She was right. Things were actually moving along better than he had had any hope of expecting.

As resources were being used up, artificial life support bays were being readied for the time when humans couldn’t breath the air any longer. Leon lead the team responsible for acquiring those. 500 raids were needed to get enough of them. Leon didn’t make it back from last one.

He grimaced at the thought that over 10,000 people died getting those engines. All men, fortunately. Females were much more valuable – they would have to birth the next generation of humans. Fewer men were needed than women, that simple.

The life support units were modified, fortified and launched. They were then placed in a lunar parking orbit. A second set of launches followed thereafter, providing the necessary super structure for assembling the LSU’s into larger structures called “Generation Ships”. Once the exclusive domain of science fiction writers, they were now the only possible chance to prevent the extinction of Earth life.

All that was left were the engines powerful enough to take them to the stars. That’s where Robert and his team came in. He engines were able of accelerating the Gen Ships to nearly 99% the speed of light. No small feat.

But they would need to be modified and recalibrated – they were designed and manufactured to launch the Orb Ships, a much less massive payload. The engines as designed would fail trying to accelerate the much more massive Gen Ships. 

The ideal solution would have been large multiples of engines which would distribute the load between them. But there just weren’t enough to go around. They ended up with 2 engines and a third as spare. A few would have 2 spares. That was it. They would have to make the new engines much more robust. Further, they would need to be configured for multiple restarts so the Gen Ships could navigate.

All in all, it was a daunting task and they were running out of time. Already, the atmosphere was becoming toxic. Portable air scrubbers were needed whenever stepping outside of hermetically seal buildings.

Konjit was true to her word and the liberated engines arrived a few days later. This had been the costliest campaign of the war, but they came through. Robert and his team finished the first batch after 6 months and launched them to the moon. The final batch was delivered 6 months after that.

Most of the humans leaving Earth had already set up in the Gen Ships. All that remained were Robert and his team getting the last few engines ready and launched. Then there were none. Everyone that would be leaving had taken up residence in their new home. They would live or die there. Earth was lost.

The engines were a huge risk – there was no way to fully test the modifications. They wouldn’t know if they succeeded or not until they set off for the stars. They had little choice. They lacked access to the necessary facilities and Earth's environment was degrading rapidly. The great mass extinction was already underway. They had to hurry.

The engines were mounted to the 50 Gen Ships that had been prepared for them. 50 – that was it. Only 50 chances to get this right. They made the final adjustments, crossed their fingers and pressed the launch buttons. 2 of the Gen Ships disintegrated in a silent fireworks display. Robert knew he should be pleased there weren’t more, but he grieved for the loss of life.

Robert watched the Earth as maneuvering engines aligned his ship. The planet began to recede as the new engines carried their precious cargo into interstellar space. An artificial gravity of nearly 3g’s could be felt. It would remain that way for a couple of years. The engines could have achieved final velocity much quicker, but the effective gravitational acceleration would have literally crushed everyone on board.

The engines finally shut down and the ships were spun up in order to create an artificial gravity. Only then did the occupants start the process of producing the next generation of humans, the first of many to have never known their planet of origin.


	7. Chapter 7

It was estimated that less than 0.01% of humans had access to the Memories. Konjit was one of the first and maybe even _the_ first to do so. She was the first to sound the alarm, in any event. If it hadn’t been for her and those that followed, there wouldn’t have been any survivors.

She and the others, called the Keepers by later generations, were afforded special status aboard the Gen Ships as a result. Every generation of humans born would be screened and new Keepers cultivated. It was deemed vitally important their story never be lost to time.

Every 20 years, an archaic unit of time that had remained though reduced to 360 cycles, she and her counterparts on the other ships would share the Memories with other Genners. It was universally agreed that Konjit’s narrative was the best and she always drew large crowds when she shared her story.

“There was a planet not unlike our own in orbit about a star not unlike our own. Life on that planet followed a similar path to that on Earth. Like us, an intelligent species evolved and in time they ventured out into the stars. But only for a brief time. They sent out colony ships to distant stars but lost contact with them due to the vast distances. They eventually stopped, choosing to remain exclusively in their home system.

“They had a unique and highly beneficial symbiotic relationship with another species. The latter drew their substance from the former and in turn gave them great health and vitality. They lived long and prospered as the old philosopher, the wise Nimoy, might have put it.

“But there was a problem. For reasons lost, they failed to monitor the health of their sun and one day arose to discover it had become unstable. It would begin to die many billions of years earlier than they’d thought. They were doomed. Their planet and those they’d colonized locally would be destroyed in a mere 1 million years.

“Yet, for some reason they did not build Gen Ships of their own. For inexplicable reasons, they chose to remain behind and perish with their star. Still, they sought to preserve their species and they settled on a novel plan.

“Once their star’s demise became imminent, they brought the genomes of the two species together and created a hybrid organism. They distilled it down to its most essential form and built special containers – the dreaded Orbs – and sent them out into interstellar space.

“They built as many Orbs and the rockets that would send them out as they could. They kept the design simple and used numbers to increase their odds. They understood that as the Orbs traveled, few would be successful in their mission.

“Most would be lost in the great void of space. Others would be caught in the gravitational well of black holes, neutron stars and systems devoid of life. Those that found their way to suitable planets may never encounter a suitable species. The odds were staggering, so they used raw numbers to get around the problem. To beat billions to one odds, they launched a trillion orbs. If even only one succeeded, it would be enough. And one did. We are the ones who paid the price for their error.

“Their intentions were benevolent. The hybrid species would bond with the indigenous life form and help them. Once their time came to leave their own system, the would do as the creators did. But they made a major mistake and we suffered for it.

“The hybrid organism did what it was designed to do. As a way of saying thank you to the new hosts, they also benefited from the health and vigor conferred by that original symbiotic species. But its programming was flawed. It focused on implementing the survival strategy of that long dead species. It was supposed to wait until the host star began to die but it didn’t. Instead, once the new species had a large enough population and the technology needed, it took over and we started to build the Orb Ships.

“We denuded our planet of resources, turning in into a nearly lifeless hunk of rock. No longer would Earth ever be able to host complex life – the resources needed had been consumed to send the new generation of Orbs out into interstellar space, the cycle repeating itself.

“The hybrid organism contained its history within its DNA and passed that to us when it became integrated into our own. It was meant to be a gift and it was – it was the only thing that allowed us to survive. Most humans were consumed by the obsession but a small percentage were immune. We tried to halt what was happening by waging war. But there were just too few of us. In the end, we could only leave our home and seek our fortunes among the stars.”


	8. Chapter 8

The message was sent out in the hopes it would be received and interpreted. It finished with a final warning:

We are the survivors of the Gen Ship Kibo. We found our way to a small, barely hospitable planet in orbit around a young star. Our home was barely able to support us any longer and we lacked the resources to maintain it. The time had come to return to a being a planetary species.

We set down and scavenged what we could of the only home we knew. Earth was nearly a myth for us. This is our new home now, our new Earth.

We are the descendants of those desperate souls that left our home planet long ago. We’ve managed to thrive, the infection from that original orb giving us the resilience needed to survive on this miserable chunk of rock and ice.

We will remain here and survive as best we can. As for you, stay away. We’ve learned to coexist with, and even benefit from, this infection but you will not. Annihilate us or avoid us, but do not approach us. We are dangerous. We are death and you will not survive us.


End file.
